SMA's science teachers Maureen Daschel, Julia Stadler and Cindi Hounton had an exciting opportunity to demonstrate their tech-savvy at the Oregon Science Teachers Association (OSTA) conference on October 10 and 11.

Daschel and Hounton focused their interactive workshop around using Explain Everything (a video and presentation creation app) for science tutorials and student presentations. Daschel returned with glowing reports. "We had around 20-25 people in the workshop," Daschel said. "They asked good questions and got a lot of opportunity for playtime."

In her session, Stadler focused on project-based learning in her AP Chemistry classes, including demonstrating how she uses video tools in exploratory labs and assessments. Stadler has been particularly intrigued by the effect of using video tools to evaluate student understanding of scientific concepts. "What she found is that kids who often didn't test well were able to really excel in the video assessments," Daschel said.

Stadler's observations have been echoed by a variety of other teachers at SMA who have explored creative forms of assessment, both technological and otherwise, and also by significant current research about the effectiveness of different types of assessments in student learning and teacher evaluation. For more information, check out this comprehensive review of research about assessment posted on Edutopia.

Maureen Daschel and Cindi Hounton smile proudly at the beginning of their presentation.

Daschel demonstrates functions in Explain Everything to one of the teachers in her session.